The Cross

By Sigrid Undset and Translated from the Norwegian By Charles Archer Sigrid Undset

Book Overview

"[Sigrid Undset] should be the next Elena Ferrante." --Slate

A Penguin Classic

Kristin Lavransdatter interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century. The trilogy, however, is more than a journey into the past. Undset's own life--her familiarity with Norse sagas and folklore and with a wide range of medieval literature, her experiences as a daughter, wife, and mother, and her deep religious faith--profoundly influenced her writing. Her grasp of the connections between past and present and of human nature itself, combined with the extraordinary quality of her writing, sets her works far above the genre of "historical novels." This new translation by Tina Nunnally--the first English version since Charles Archer's translation in the 1920s--captures Undset's strengths as a stylist. Nunnally, an award-winning translator, retains the natural dialog and lyrical flow of the original Norwegian, with its echoes of Old Norse legends, while deftly avoiding the stilted language and false archaisms of Archer's translation. In addition, she restores key passages left out of that edition.

Undset's ability to present a meticulously accurate historical portrait without sacrificing the poetry and narrative drive of masterful storytelling was particularly significant in her homeland. Granted independence in 1905 after five hundred years of foreign domination, Norway was eager to reclaim its national history and culture. Kristin Lavransdatter became a touchstone for Undset's contemporaries, and continues to be widely read by Norwegians today. In the more than 75 years since it was first published, it has also become a favorite throughout the world.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141182350
• ISBN13: 9780141182353
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

I'm not usually moved by books but....

...this one brought me to tears in more than one place. If you're reading "The Cross," or considering purchasing it, you've probably already read the first two books in the series and are caught up in the story. Is this book worth it? Yes. It's not an uplifting read by any means, but it brings the Kristin story to a logical -- though heartbreaking -- conclusion. I am in awe of Undset for her creation of such believable characters, and grateful to her for this glimpse into medieval life. Nunnally's translation is clear and reads smoothly. This, along with "The Wreath" and "The Wife," is one of those books you hate to see end.

Bringing It All Together

THE CROSS is the final shattering novel in Sigrid Undset's KRISTAN LAVRANSDATTER trilogy. In it, Kristin reaps both the rewards and sorrows of the choices she sowed in the first two volumes.In the first novel, Kristin's passion for Erlend Nikulausson led her to break her betrothal to Simon Andresson. In the second volume, Kristin sought to atone for her sin (she was already pregnant when she celebrated her wedding with Erlend), but had to struggle to forgive Erlend for leading her astray. In THE CROSS, the consequences of Kristin's choices all come to a head. The first section of the novel focuses on Simon, who has been a faithful friend to Kristin and Erlend, even as he continued to harbor feelings for Kristin. In the mid-section of the novel, Kristin and Erlend strive to find peace with one another. While their passion for one another never died, they were never fully able to overcome the mismatch in their marriage. And in the final section, we follow Kristin as she seeks acceptance from her seven sons, and most importantly from God.For while KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER seems to be a novel about love, friendship, and marriage, its deepest message is about the struggle of deeply-flawed humans to reconcile themselves with God. The trilogy is set in medieval Norway and all of the characters order their lives (as best they can) around the Christian moral order. Even as they knowingly fail, the Faith is a part of the very air they breathe.The miracle of Sigrid Undset's trilogy is the clarity of her perception into the human condition. All of these characters live and breathe, and (more startling) we see clearly how they impact each other through the tangled webs of their lives. But Undset's literary talent is embedded in a sharp religious vision, which points to God's relationship with us as sinners. Undset never denies the good in Kristin's passion for Erlend. Nor does she hide the devastating consequences their passion had on each other and on all of the lives they touched. Often, to sin is not to choose that which is evil, but rather to choose a lesser good. Yet as the saying goes, God can write straight with crooked lines, and at the end of this extraordinary trilogy, Kristin comes to see how God has been with her through all of the light *and* through all of the dark. We walk away from the novel enthralled by the grandeur of the story we live out in this fallen world, and the enormous love God has for us.Rereading Sigrid Undset's classic trilogy has been one of my most rewarding projects this summer.

A Complete Life

If you have read the first 2 parts of the trilogy, then surely you will want to see how Kristen's life story turns out. Through Undset's marvelous characterizations you will experience a huge range of human emotions: the worries of parents about their children (especially of course from the mother's perspective), the joy of seeing the future in and through your children,the melancholy waning of marital love (and its reawakening), the fragility of life in medieval times, the ecstasy of deep religious faith, the hysteria when the unknown approaches. Undset examines through Kristin the constants of human life with simplicity, but also with a realization that the mystery of existence remains mysterious. A reviewer of an earlier volume said he preferred the 1920's translation in a pseudo-Walter Scott style, claiming it shows more "poetry" than Tiina Nunnally's. "De gustibus non est disputandum": each to his own taste. I suggest that you take a look at both translations before you buy and see which one you might prefer. (I will still call the earlier translation dreadful.) I hope that Tiina Nunnally will eventually translate all of Undset's works.

The triumph of character over circumstances

"Know Thyself"--in her maturity, the girl protagonist of the "The Wedding Garland" and the unhappy wife of "The Mistress of Husaby" undertakes the difficult spiritual task of reflecting upon her life and past mistakes, and coming to terms with the reality of her life. Far from being depressing, this novel illustrates how an all too-flawed human being attains transcendent wisdom, meeting death with interior peace and inspiring courage.

Heart rending.

I have told you in my reviews of the 2 earlier books that you become Kristin. Well, in this book you wish you were her so you could recover from her mistakes and make life right again. How tragic Erlend's ending, how sad Kristin's. I ache to this day for her. Was life really like that in those days. We will never know. But feelings and emotions seem to be timeless and I can only imagine that somewhere in sometime in someone's life they experienced all that Kristin did and I ache for them too. These books will be a part of me forever and I can not recommend them to highly to you.